For today I have another book review! I will be reviewing My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga. It's an amazing book with wonderful topics and I just loved it!
Let's begin!
Details:
Title: My Heart and Other Black Holes
Author: Jasmine Warga
Number of Pages: 302
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Mental Health, Romance
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Published on: February 10, 2015
Format: Paperback
Price: Php 395.00 (Fully Booked), $ 10.15 (Book Depository), $ 9.99 (Amazon)
*Prices may change due to different sales/offers.
Purchase the book at:
*I am NOT getting any profit for endorse these sites.
Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.
There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner.
Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.
About the Author:
Hi, I'm Jasmine. I live and write in a small town (technically a village, but that sounds so medieval) that is a few miles outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Since I find it exceedingly uncomfortable to write about myself, I will keep this short. MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES is my first novel and will be published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins in Winter 2015. My second novel, which is currently untitled, will most likely be published in 2016. You can read more about my books here [on my website].
Things I like: Animals (of all sorts!), especially my cat, Salvador, and my puppy, Scout. Surrealist sketches. Iced coffee. The night sky. Old swing sets. Music. Rainy mornings. (This list could get obnoxiously long so I will stop here.)
Things I do not like: Talking about things I dislike.
Reach the author at:
Review/Rating:
This book was unexpectedly amazing! I was surprised on how much I liked it. I read it within a day which is a rare thing to happen since if you have read my 25 Bookish Facts About Me, I require a lot of things before I can actually properly read a book. I kinda also went blind into reading this book, I only knew then the names of the main characters and that this is mainly about suicide.
This review will have two parts -- a spoiler-free one which will contain all the elements I have liked about the book and a spoiler one which will contain particular scenes and events mainly about the story that I want to talk about.
Beginning with the spoiler-free part, this book was better than I expected. It was also surprisingly lighter in terms of how it discussed suicide and depression than how I imagined it to be because the title and the cover was only giving vague ideas on what the book is really about. But overall, I liked it. It was wonderfully inspirational. It also had very interesting science topics which I, being a science geek, enjoyed a lot.
On how she built her characters was interesting. She didn't go for the most typical way, instead she built her characters as realistic as possible. But realistic in a way that you kind-of will see how worse things are for other people. And I also liked how truthful her characters are. Her character was not very pretentious of having problems with their selves and you can really see the proper build-up of situations that contributed to how her characters act. I also appreciated the other characters. They added so much fun and depth to the story of our main characters. I would discuss them further below in the spoiler section.
A thing I absolutely loved about this book is how it can make you think and contemplate about life. It can also make fun instead of sadness. I adored how smooth Jasmine Warga was able to relate scientific matters to real life. I also loved how Science was a big factor to the story. It definitely talks about death and suicide but not in a negative way. I mean, suicide is not good but how the author was able to tackle those topics seemed reasonable. It wasn't just a spoiled selfish brat trying to attempt suicide just because her parents can't give her this or that -- it was much more than that. She was also able to talk about those things without appearing to be too dark and awkward to read. The author was able to capture the attention of the readers with her wonderful thoughts that everyone can surely relate to. She also writes so naturally! I didn't find anything that seemed to be forced to work out. It was just amazing! I find it wonderful for a debut novel.
In terms of the writing style, there's nothing much really to talk about. This book is set on the main character's point of view. The way Jasmine Warga writes is a very dragging but typical way for a YA novel.
The entire book was literally amazing. It will make you think thoroughly. It will make you value what you have. It shows hope and really justifies the importance of believing that there's always hope.
I fell in love with this book. It's one of those feel good book in a way that you'll really learn something after reading the last page. It's so much more than a depression or a suicide book.
Moving on, I'll now be talking about particular scenes in the book.
Disclaimer: Beyond this point, this review will contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
"I check FrozenRobot's stats and try not to judge the screen name. But, FrozenRobot, really? I understand that everyone here is a little bit, okay, a lot emotional, but still. Have some dignity." page 10
This is one of the few examples on why I find this book hilarious. I mean the username FrozenRobot is interestingly funny, but reading it in Aysel's point of view made me giggle.
Now, as I've mentioned above, this book talked about depression and suicide in a much more interesting way. Surely, it had the seriousness around it. I felt very captivated by the thoughts Aysel had. But at the same time, the author smoothly made it humorous and hilarious at some points. And that is something I surely admired about! I also agreed on most of what the author proposed or expressed regarding death, suicide, and depression.
"The problem with suicide, which most people don't realize, is that it's really hard to follow through. I know, I know. People are always yammering on and on about how 'suicide is the coward's way out.' And I guess it is -- I mean, I am giving up, surrendering. Running away from my black hole of a future, preventing myself from growing into the person I'm terrified of becoming. But just because it's cowardly doesn't guarantee it's going to be easy." page 8
I definitely agree on this part. I think most people quickly think that a person who wants to commit suicide is a coward. But little do we know about them. They might be brave enough to even last at a certain point of their lives when they have already been suffering so much. We don't even know what other people are going through and yet we are able to judge them. I really admire Jasmine Warga's kind thoughts towards these topics.
Now, Aysel's family is quite not the best. Well, technically there isn't the best family but hers is something quite heavy to be a burden. Her father has committed a crime and he's been called a monster because of it. And her mother, well her mother isn't really sometimes reasonable. Because of this, Aysel's quite of an introvert. She's afraid of telling people about her because she knows they'll think different of her. And a main reason why she wants to commit suicide is because she can't handle her becoming someone like her dad. This is what I'm talking about when I said "reasonable" above in the non-spoiler section.
"Does a dead body still have potential energy or does it get transferred into something else? Can potential energy just evaporate into nothingness? page 32
Remember the science topics? Above is one of those that I particularly like and thought about too.
Roman is another very interesting character. He's kinda flat for me during the first few parts of the book but he developed into something more relatable and interesting.
There's this scene with Roman and Aysel. Roman was about to give up on having a partner on taking suicide but Aysel says something about the world feeling sorry for Roman already and she doesn't want to be like everyone. Then, Roman tells Aysel to be careful because she isn't allowed to die without him was so cute! My brief description about it probably sucked but you'll get what I'm saying when you've read the book. It's on page 92-93 by the way if you want to reread it. *winks*
That was also brilliant of Jasmine Warga to show different aspects of people who wants to commit suicide. I think she was able to showcase different situations and on how things are like for different types of people. She didn't just show what most people know happens around persons suffering with depression. She was able to show that not everything you know is the only thing that might happen. She was also able to hopefully become an inspiration on how other people should not take suicide and depression as things only happening for those who have awful lives, instead also to those who seem to have wonderful lives. I really hope I make sense. It's just that not everyone who seems to have an amazing life on your perspective right now means they are perfectly fine in the inside. And that doesn't mean that a person who you think are having amazing lives give you the right to mock them for being sad or think as if they aren't allowed to feel sad. Like Roman who seems to have an amazing family and whom you'd think is okay, isn't really. Aysel too, who's suffering is indeed suffering in the inside. What I am really trying to say is for people to become open-minded regarding these situations. What you only see from the outside, does not in any way give you the right to know what they should be feeling or the right to judge them for how they feel.
Georgia -- Aysel's sister is very annoying. But she added so much to the story. I'm not entirely sure if she's a good character, but she's definitely not the worst. I find her opinions very hilarious and her characteristic is very annoying, but annoying in a way that's interesting to read and really elevated the story at some points.
Mike -- Aysel's little brother was one of the characters that really got me pretty much sad. As a teen myself, I am very matured for my age -- and I also get that a lot from other people. So, I know how things feel. It's really uncomfortable to talk about these things but bear with me. You see, Mike is a very hopeful character. I can actually see myself in him when I was his age, and that sounded weird since I am only 15 but anyways. Children like Mike is purely what people who struggles in life holds on to. And I really felt the connection between him and Aysel. It was a main factor on why this story is so much more than a brat trying to kill herself for selfishness -- it had a lot of components and aspects that we all experience in real life. It had Mike, and I am pretty sure everyone has someone like Mike too in their lives -- whom makes the struggle worth-it.
Oh, and another thing I find adorable is how Aysel pertains to Roman as Roman and as FrozenRobot depending on the situation. It's really one of the small things that made this book cute and adorable.
So, the carnival happens. They went to the carnival which is Aysel's idea. Roman was obviously skeptical about this because he wanted to die, and days before committing suicide shouldn't be fun. Nonetheless, they continued on and rode the ferris wheel. After that Roman played a game involving basketball and when he won, he gave his prize to Aysel, which is kinda cute. Aysel, ended up wanting the lady monitoring the game to give the prize to a kid, the loneliest kid, who wouldn't be able to make a point in the game. That was very amazing. In fact, that small gesture made me so happy. It just goes to show how much people could still be kind. I have always believed in kindness, and this particular scene made my heart jump.
They then go camping. And they talk about science things. Then Roman kissed Aysel, afterwards saying that it's all temporary and he still wants to die on April 7th. That part was very heartwarming and at the same time interesting as to what might happen, because apparently Aysel doesn't want to die now because of Roman, but Roman still wants to.
"Sadness is only ugly, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t get it. I think what he means to say is that he and I are ugly in the same way and there’s something familiar, comfortable, about that. Comfortable is different from beautiful.
I think about his drawing of me. The girl that he drew, she was beautiful. That girl wasn’t a gray sky. She had hope. Hope is beautiful.
And so I don’t want us to be ugly in the same way anymore. I don’t want to be a gray sky. I want us to find hope. Together. I look away from him to hide the fact that my eyes are welling up. After a few moments of silence, I stand up and dust myself off. 'We should probably get going.'" page 235
This, above, is one of the parts I can't help but think thoroughly through. Coming from Aysel's point of view made it sound magical.
"I once read in my physics book that the universe begs to be observed, that energy travels and transfers when people pay attention. Maybe that’s what love really boils down to—having someone who cares enough to pay attention so that you’re encouraged to travel and transfer, to make your potential energy spark into kinetic energy. Maybe all anyone ever needs is for someone to notice them, to observe them." page 242
I really liked that part above. It was so observant.
Aysel shares things with Roman. Things that Roman already knows. And I really liked how Roman handled the whole situation. He was very comforting in a way that's not too fake.
He shrugs. “Sometimes it helps to talk. It helped me to tell you about Maddie.”
My insides jolt with hope. “It did?”
“You gave me something no one else has given me.”
“What?”
“You looked at me the same way before and after the story. I want to do that for you.” page 252
As the ending approaches, Aysel set things off one by one. She started with her mom. She finally asked for her permission to go visit her dad. Then with her school and project. She also signed up for the Science summer camp.
Roman, on the other hand, attempts suicide, alone. He did this because of how I think he sees Aysel as a person who wants to live further. He's afraid of Aysel being a flake that he did it alone. Three days before their plan to commit suicide, Roman attempts to kill himself alone, at their garage. Aysel and Roman's mom kept on searching for him everywhere. But he was in their garage. They brought him to the hospital.
I have to admit, the ending was not entirely what I expected. I really loved this book, I LOVED it. It made me giggle, and think about things I wouldn't have thought otherwise, it made me appreciate things, and I really loved the science talks. The ending tho, was a happy ending but it wasn't as dragging as to what I expected it would be. I mean, it's okay. Roman recovered and things happened. They plan and venture on killing the black slugs inside of them or at least keeping it shut. It was an okay ending.
Overall, My Heart and Other Black Holes is all emotions in one book. It'll make you sad, happy, and everything. It would make you think about things in life that didn't seem to matter. It would make you appreciate things and discover more. It's fun and cute but at the same time, it handled depression and suicide in a way that'll make you really contemplate about it. It's an amazing book.
Reading with Luigi gives My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga a
4.5/5 Books!
This book is amazing. Recommendable! I really loved it as a whole and it definitely became one of my favorites!
Favorite Quotes:
Obviously, I have stated some parts I liked in the book above, but they were certain sentences that really hit me and I'd like to share them with you!
"But just because it's cowardly, doesn't guarantee it's going to be easy." page 8
"Depression is like a heaviness that you can’t ever escape. It crushes down on you, making even the smallest things like tying your shoes or chewing on toast seem like a twenty-mile hike uphill. Depression is a part of you; it’s in your bones and your blood. If I know anything about it, this is what I know: It’s impossible to escape." page 14
"As if simply not talking about something makes it disappear. Newsflash: It doesn't." page 21
"Comfortable is different from beautiful." page 235
"My point is you can change. You're resilient. page 262
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And that is it for today's post! I really hope you've enjoyed it! I poured my heart and soul into writing this review and I really hope you guys appreciated it!
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? I'd love to hear your thoughts on the comment box below or via any of my social media accounts!
I will have another post up very soon! Let's begin again, then.
I certainly agree to some points that you have discussed on this post. I appreciate that you have shared some reliable tips on this review.
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